"Indeed, indeed we can't plan your wedding without you," Threkin assured her from the podium. "We wouldn't think of it. We are only making plans in the eventuality that you marry Isolder"
"Councilman Horm?" See-Threepio's voice cut through the council room. Leia turned, saw the golden droid standing on tiptoe and waving from the back of the room excitedly. "Oh, Councilman Horm, may I address the council?"
"What?" Horm asked in disdain. "Let a droid address the council?"
Leia smiled inwardly. The droid rights lobbyists would have a field day with that comment. It might well be the first nail in the coffin for Horm's political career. Leia stood quickly. "He may only be a counselor droid, but I think we should let him speak!"
There was grumbled assent from the general assembly, along with deafening cheers from the forest of media droids in the back.
"I, I, I see nothing wrong with that!" Horm sputtered, waving his arms. "I yield the podium to, to, tothat droid!"
The media droids cheered and Threepio walked up to the podium, scanning the crowd on his left and right as he did so. Leia had never seen a droid take such initiative. She wondered what he wanted. Threepio reached the podium and turned to address the crowd.
"Well," he said, "I would like to propose that the council should begin planning Leia's weddingto General Han Solo!"
"What!" shouted Horm. "Why, why this is preposterous! General Solo isn't even royalty! He's just, he's just . . ." Horm must have realized that he had better not say anything libelous, but he shrugged in disgust. All through the crowd, a wave of grumbling began, and Leia wondered if she hadn't misjudged in letting poor Threepio address the council.
"I beg to differ!" Threepio answered. "I have been communicating with various computers through Coruscant's network all morning, and I've discovered some startling facts that all of you seem to have overlookedpossibly because General Solo has labored intensely to hide them although the Corellians became a republic nearly three centuries ago, by birthright Han Solo is the king of Corellia!"
The room erupted in a dull roar and media droids began hitting Han Solo with spotlights. Threkin Horm's nasal voice sliced through the chatter with, "What? What? What?" Leia turned and looked to the back of the room in shock. The back seats of the auditorium were raised in tiers, and she could see Han plainly, blushing, trying to scrunch down into his seat. From the look on his face, she could tell that Han was indeed trying to hide something. And Leia knew that Threepio's programming as a counselor droid made him incapable of lying. Han put his hand up over his eyes and looked down at the floor. In all these years, why didn't he ever tell me? Leia wondered.
Aboard the Bith counselor ship Thpffftht, Luke watched the holo vid with interest, surprised that even on a backwater world like Toola the doings of Leia and Isolderand now Hancould be of enough interest to warrant the enormous expense it cost to send the news clips through hyperspace. Well, Leia was living every woman's fantasyattracting the interest of an incredibly rich and handsome prince. And the intrigue of the assassination attempt had escalated the worth of the story so that now Luke could watch his sister live, nearly three hundred light-years distant.
The Bith ship was scheduled to jump into hyperdrive within a few moments, and Luke studied the video with interest. The holo vid cameras were focused on Han now, and Solo sat scrunched in his chair, hand over his face. Even Chewbacca, sitting next to Han, opened his eyes wide in surprise, a throaty roar of astonishment escaping from between his canines.
Luke smiled inwardly. Of course, he thought, Han is a king. I should have recognized it before. But why did he hide it? In spite of his smile, Luke felt troubled. He could feel something odd, something distant and dark stirring. Too many in the galaxy would resist Leia's union to Isolder. He could feel the force of their malevolent intent, and Luke silently willed the Bith technicians to hurry and finish their equipment tests before making the jump to hyperdrive. Luke wouldn't reach the Roche system any too soon.
"Indeed," Threepio went on. "Han is the royal heir! Birth records indicate that Han's paternal ancestry goes back to Ber-ethron e Solo, who introduced democracy in the Corellian empire. You can easily track the birthright for the next six generations, to Korol Solo, but records from Korol's period were destroyed in the Clone Wars and the lineage became lost.
"But Korol Solo married and fathered his first son on Duro nearly sixty years ago, and because of the wars and turmoil, that son never returned home. His name was Dalla Solo, but he changed his name to Dalla Suul to hide his identity during the Clone Wars. His firstborn son was Jonash Suul, and the first son of Jonash Suul was named Han Suulwho changed his name back to Han Solo. Obviously, Han knew of his royal lineage, but for reasons that are quite beyond me, he's also tampered with records back on Corellia in an effort to hide that lineage!"
There was an audible gasp from the crowd, and Threkin Horm shouted for order. Han got up slowly and walked out of the auditorium as the roar in the background diminished. Leia half-stood, watching Han leave, and the crowd quieted enough for Threkin to cry out, "But wasn't Dalla Suul also known as Dalla the Black? The famous murderer?"
"Well, yes, I suppose," Threepio admitted, "though the history texts describe him more accurately as a kidnapper and a pirate."
"And, well," Threkin said, "well, what kind of lineage is that? I meanDalla Suul was one of the most notorious kingpins in organized crime! You can't expect respectable people to give any credence to Han's claims of royal lineage."
"Well, I am just an ignorant droid and confess that I don't really understand how the actions of one's ancestors enhance or detract from one's respectability," Threepio apologized to Threkin Horm. "Such concepts are beyond the ability of a model AA-One Verbobrain to process. But since Dalla Suul's illegitimate daughter was your mother, I expect that you are infinitely more familiar with the logic of the arguments than I am."
Threkin Horm's face paled, and he stood shaking.
The holo vid clip ended, and a droid announcer began commenting on it. Luke flipped off the holo and sat back in a thick chair, folded his hands on his lap. In only a couple of generations, Han's line had diminished from kingship to underworld kingpin. No wonder Han had hidden his lineage, had turned his back on the Alderaanian Council and stormed away before his secret was revealed. Poor Han.
Chapter 7
That afternoon, Leia and Isolder strolled through a secluded forest in the botanical gardens of Coruscant, a garden where plants from hundreds of thousands of New Republic worlds flourished. Leia was showing Isolder the oro woods of Alderaanforests where the graceful, clean-limbed trees climbed hundreds of feet into the air, but every inch of the trees' bark was covered with iridescent lichen colonies that glimmered in colors of cinnabar, violet, and canarylike the effluent of rainbows. White cairoka birds fluttered from limb to limb, while tiny brilliant red deer with golden stripes fed among foliage on the ground. On Alderaan the oro woods had occupied only a dozen small islands, and Leia had only traveled there once as a child. Still, seeing that even a piece of her home world still thrived lightened her heart.
Isolder walked hand in hand with her. He said, "I called my mother on holo vid. She was pleased that you planned to come visit. She's bringing her own personal vehicle to carry you back to Hapes."
"Vehicle?" Leia wondered aloud at his choice of words. "You mean she's bringing her own personal ship?"
"In this case," Isolder said, "I think the word vehicle is more appropriate. It's thousands of years old and rather eccentric in design. Still, you will like it." The woods were quiet. Isolder's bodyguards had spread out among the trees, except for the woman Astarta, who walked at their backs.
Leia smiled, stopped to smell a violet, trumpet-shaped flower. The flower had been uncommon on the plains of her home world, a pungent-smelling weed. "This is an arallute," Leia said. "Folktales said that if a new bride found one growing in her yard, it was a sign that she would soon have a child. Of course, the bride's mother and sisters always
made it a point to plant an arallute in the newlyweds' lawn after the wedding, and of course they had to do it at night. It was considered bad luck to get caught." Isolder smiled, fingered the flower. "When it dries," Leia said, "the petals fold in and the seeds get trapped in the dry flower. Mothers then give the dry flowers to their babies to use as rattles."
"How charming," Isolder said, and he sighed. "It's sad to know that it's all gone, all destroyed. Except for what's here on Coruscant."
"When our refugees find a new home," Leia said, "we plan to take some of these specimens with us, establish another garden on a new world."
Comlink tones sounded, and Leia flipped her comlink on reluctantly. "Leia, Threkin Horm here. I have great news! The New Republic has canceled your mission to the Roche system!"
"What?" Leia asked, stunned. She had never been pulled from an assignment. "How did this happen?"
"It seems that relations between the Verpines and the Barabels are disintegrating at a faster rate than we anticipated," Threkin answered. "So Mon Mothma has escalated the level of intervention in hopes that we can avert a war. General Han Solo will be assigned to lead a fleet of Star Destroyers to the Roche system to protect the Verpines until the crisis is resolved. Meanwhile, Mon Mothma personally will be handling this crisis with a team of her most trusted counselors."
"What crisis?" Leia asked.
"Customs agents boarded a Barabel cargo ship outside the Roche system this morning and found the thing we all feared."
Leia's stomach turned at the thought of lockers filled with Verpine body parts, hard frozen in the depths of space. In spite of her attempts to overcome such prejudices, the more Leia dealt with species of carnivorous reptiles, the more she anticipated such atrocities. Still, she told herself, you couldn't judge an entire species by the actions of a few. "What of Mon Mothma? Won't she need my help?"
"She and I both feel that there are . . . better ways for you to serve the New Republic," Threkin said. "Mon Mothma has temporarily relieved you from duty for the next eight standard months. I trust your time will be well spent." The undertone to his voice clearly indicated what he desired, but he said it outright. "You may leave for Hapes at your earliest convenience."
Threkin's image flicked off the communicator, and Isolder squeezed Leia's hand. Leia considered momentarily, and knew she could not argue against Hormthe Verpines really would be better off with a New Republic fleet at their side, and Leia had felt overwhelmed by the assignment all along. As a diplomatic counselor, she had great skills, but the Barabels were never impressed by stirring speeches or elaborate arguments. The Barabels, who had evolved as communal predators dominated by a pack leader, would respect Mon Mothma for handling the affair. The simple fact that the "pack leader" for the entire New Republic had jumped into the fray would disorient the Barabels, force them to regroup and rethink the situation.
In fact, now that Leia looked at it, she realized that Mon Mothma didn't need her at all. Leia had been so curious, trying to understand why a Verpine hive mother would be allowed to go feral, that she had been planning to attack the problem from the wrong angle. She should have been looking at the Barabels all along.
Perhaps the only thing that didn't make a great deal of sense would be to send a New Republic fleet to the Roche system. The Verpines could protect their hives. With their ability to communicate via radio waves, the fact that their colonies were built in an asteroid belt that was nonnavigable (at least by human pilots), and their swarming attack style in high-speed B-wing bombers, the Verpines would make a formidable foe.
Isolder stepped in closer. "Why are you frowning, little one?"
"Just wondering about something."
"No, you are worrying." Isolder said. "Don't you think Mon Mothma has things in control?"
"Too much control," Leia said, and she looked up into the stormy seas of his gray eyes.
"You aren't ready to leave yet, are you?" Isolder asked. Leia started to speak, but Isolder added, "No, no, that is all right. Leaving all of this behind," he gestured to the oro woods around him, "will be a big step for you. It will feel as if you are leaving it for goodand perhaps, if you so choose, you will indeed be leaving these worlds, this life, behind."
He held her hands, and Leia smiled wistfully. Isolder said, "Take a few days. Spend some time with your friends. Say your good-byes if you feel that you must. I understand. And if it makes you feel any better, then just repeat what you said to the Alderaanian Council You are coming to Hapes for a visit, nothing more. There are no strings attached, no obligations."
His words slid over her like a wave of warm water, buoying her spirits. "Oh, Isolder, thank you for understanding." She leaned into his chest, and Isolder put his arms around her. For a moment, Leia was tempted to add, "I love you," but knew it was too soon to speak those words, knew it was too much of a commitment.
Isolder whispered softly into her ear, "I love you."
Han Solo sat at the console of the Millennium Falcon , running dodge maneuvers through an orbital junkyard of space debris off Coruscant's smallest moon. Doing computer checks of all flight systems on his ship was one thingbut Han had long ago decided that only a live test was sufficient.
Flying through a junkyard was much like negotiating through an asteroid field, except that the junk here tended to be all heavy metal, unlike those nice, soft carbonaceous asteroids. Threading his way through the debris somehow seemed to ease Han, tranquilize him. He dipped under the slowly tumbling busted stabilizer wing of a TIE fighter and then came up to the skeletal hull of an old Victory Star Destroyer, long since gutted for salvage.
Just what I want, he thought. There were some systems aboard the Falcon that just couldn't be tested in friendly space, and where Han was headed, he didn't expect to meet any friendlies. He slowed to match the Star Destroyer's velocity, nosed into the main exhaust nacelle up to where its turbodrive generator had once been housed, then carefully set the Millennium Falcon down.
Han flipped on his modified Imperial IFF Transponder, switched it to option fourteen. As his ship's radio signals bounced against the metal shielding of the fission chamber, Han's proximity indicators screamed in warning of approaching enemy Incom Y4 passenger ships in every direction, their blue-gray metallic images flickering on the head-up holo display. Han had salvaged the transponder code from a military transport ship attached to warlord Zsinj's marines. The transport ship had been carrying a twelve-member team from Zsinj's Raptorsa special forces organization supposedly devoted to surveying planetary defense systems, then infiltrating said planets and demolishing their defenses. But the Raptors were developing a nasty reputation as the strong arm of Zsinj's secret police. Ultimately, on many thousand worlds, the Raptors ruled.
Secure in the knowledge that his new transponder signal would identify him as one of Zsinj's ships, Han flipped on his jammersand so much static and radio traffic came over his sensors that the ghost ships blanked out on his head-up display. Han smiled inwardly. Both the new transponder and the high-powered jammers were working fine. He'd need them in unfriendly space.
Now that he'd tested his hardware, Han fired his sublight engines and carefully lifted the Falcon out of the rusting innards of the old destroyer. As he maneuvered through the orbiting junkyard, the call he'd been waiting for came on audio.
Leia said, "General Solo, I hear that you'll be taking a fleet to the Roche system tonight."
"Yeah, that's what they tell me," Han said.
"I'll be sorry to see you go. I was hoping we could get together for a few hours before you leave."
A fleet? She thought he was leading a fleet? One Star Destroyer could hardly be called a fleet. Han knew who was behind the orders, who had stabbed him in the back. Threkin Horm. Han had underestimated the fat man, and now they planned to ship him off, far, far away, so that Leia would forget about him. "Yes," Han said. "That would be nice. I'm kind of busy right now, trying to get a grip on a few things. I can't come down planetside. Maybe I could meet
you at fifteen hundred hours at your place? Aboard the Rebel Dream? We could maybe talk a little, go out for a drink."
"That sounds good. I'll see you then." Leia signed off.
Han glanced at the timepiece on his console. Chewbacca and Threepio were supposed to meet him on the Millennium Falcon at seventeen hundred hours. Time was running out.
When Han came to Leia's door, he had a tired smile on his face. He gave Leia a quick hug, then entered the hallway to her quarters, glancing around nervously. She stepped back to look at him. His hair was mussed, eyes fatigued. He didn't look happy at all.
"Can I get you a drink or something?" Leia asked.
Han shook his head. "Uh, no." He didn't say anything else, just stood, looking at the walls and glancing into the living quarters. In Leia's bedroom, the dull lights shone from the gems of Gallinore on her dresser. The twin suns above the Selab tree had gone dark, as if they were on a night cycle.
"You aren't happy about your transfer to the Roche system, are you?" Leia asked.
"Well, uh, to tell the truth, I'm not going," Han admitted.
"Not going?" Leia asked.
"I resigned my commission."
"When did this happen?" Leia asked.
Han shrugged. "Five minutes ago." He walked into her bedroom, stood staring down at the bed, glanced at the gems on her dresser, the piles of treasure from Hapes. Part of Leia was still surprised to have it here. If she'd had any sense, she told herself, she would have had it locked up.
"Well, where will you go?" Leia demanded. "What will you do?"
"I'm going to Dathomir," Han said, and Leia stood with her mouth open a moment.
Star Wars - The Courtship of Princess Leia Page 7
